α. 1800s p'int blank, 1800s– pint blank.
β. 1800s pine blang, 1800s– pine blank, 1900s– paim blank, 1900s– pime blank, 1900s– pime plank.
γ. 1900s– pliam blank, 1900s– plime blank, 1900s– pline blank, 1900s– prime blank.
pine-blankadv.adj.
/ˈpʌɪnblaŋk/, U.S. /ˈpaɪnˌblæŋk/ U.S. regional (south Midland).
A. adv.
= point-blank adv. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb] > straightforwardly or directly
platc1375
in short and plainc1386
plaina1387
platlyc1390
in (also at, on, unto) (a, the) plainc1395
roundc1405
homelya1413
directly1509
roundly1528
point-blank1598
in good set termsa1616
broadly1624
crudely1638
plain downa1640
plumply1726
plumpa1734
squably1737
straightforward1809
unvarnishedly1824
pine-blank1834
blankly1846
squarely1860
straight out1874
straightforwardly1906
1834 Republican Banner (Pennsylvania) 3 June 4/2 Reuben Whitney swore pint blank to some things that took place on a certain day.
1886 Cent. Mag. Jan. 433/2 I oughter 'a' said it then, but I'll say it now, right pine-blank.
1887 Scribner's Mag. Oct. 476/2 Jeff looked..p'int blank gashly.
1896 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Aug. 345/1 They told him pine blank and once for all, he couldn't.
1937 Frontier & Midland Autumn 13 His eyes standin pine-blank open.
1943 J. Stuart Taps for Private Tussie xiii. 149 ‘It's wonderful, Uncle George,’ I said. ‘It's pint-blank right,’ Grandma said.
1954 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxi. 34 I swear pine blank.
1998 Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel 5 Mar. b1 If a man says he is ‘ferninst’ it, he means his opinion is pine-blank opposite of yours.
B. adj.
= point-blank adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective] > straightforward or direct
naked?c1225
platc1385
plaina1393
light?a1400
rounda1450
direct1530
frank1548
evena1573
handsmooth1612
point-blank1648
crude1650
plain-spoken1658
plain-spoke1706
unambiguous1751
plump1789
straightforward1806
plain-said1867
pine-blank1883
straight1894
point-to-point1905
non-ambiguous1924
Wife of Bath1926
simpliste1973
1883 Decatur (Illinois) Republican 4 June 1/3 I tell you de pine blank fac, if you want dat gal of mine you'se got to stick to ole Virginny.
1954 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxi. 34 A pine blank lie.
1998 Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel (Nexis) 12 Mar. b1 My mother used an expression, ‘pine blank’ or ‘pint blank’, which translated to ‘point blank’. As in, ‘He told a pine-blank lie.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.adj.1834